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The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded $450 million to Amtrak to upgrade rail infrastructure so that the railroad can provide more frequent and faster high-speed rail service, as well as improve service reliability between New York City and Washington, D.C.

The improvements will help pave the way for Amtrak’s Gateway Project, which is designed to create new tunnels to access an expanded New York Penn Station, enhance regional economic development and lay the foundation for the launch of “next generation high-speed service,” Amtrak officials said in a prepared statement.

The proceeds will fund upgrades to electrical power and signal systems, track and overhead catenary wires between Morrisville, Pa., and New Brunswick, N.J., which is one of the busiest segments of the Northeast Corridor. In addition, track switches at the western entrance to Penn Station will be reconfigured to mitigate congestion. The project is scheduled for completion in September 2017.

Amtrak expects top train speeds to increase from 135 mph to 160 mph along 24 miles of track. Combined with new equipment acquisitions now in the planning stages, the project will support plans to add six more Acela Express high-speed round trips between New York and D.C. by 2018, and a total of 15 additional round trips by 2022, Amtrak officials said.